World Family Policy Center Newsletter

*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*

Volume 8 Issue 208 – December 31, 2008

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Quote of the Day: "The family is the corner stone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when the family collapses it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the community itself is crippled. So, unless we work to strengthen the family, to create conditions under which most parents will stay together, all the rest — schools, playgrounds, and public assistances, and private concern — will never be enough."

~ Lyndon Baines Johnson

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FAREWELL

Effective tonight, the World Family Policy Center will be closed. Our website will remain available at www.worldfamilypolicy.org or www.worldfamiliypolicycenter.org to serve as a research service.

Professor Richard G. Wilkins, Managing Director of the World Family Policy Center, would like to announce the recent decision by the Brigham Young University to close the Center. Professor Wilkins and Acting Managing Director Dr. A. Scott Loveless express their profound thanks to everyone who offered service to the World Family Policy Center. Brief statements from Professor Wilkins and Dr. Loveless are included in this final edition of the Center's newsletter.

The World Family Policy Center is closing, and with it our weekly newsletter. We are certain, however, that our readers will wish to stay informed on issues worldwide affecting the family. To that end we recommend two other newsletters which will keep you informed. Please consider subscribing to the newsletters from the following organizations:

Doha Institute for Family Studies and Development http://www.fsd.org.qa/doha/wfns/wfns.asp?pagenum=9&

Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society http://www.worldcongress.org/WCFUpdate/sub/wcf_update_sub.htm

By subscribing to one or both of these newsletters you will stay updated on the latest family news and events from around the globe. We recommend both of these services to our loyal readers.

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Richard G. Wilkins

Personal Statement

Closing of the World Family Policy Center

31 December 2008

Today the World Family Policy Center closes its doors.

For the past 11 years, the Center (so far as I have been able to determine) has been the only university-based academic entity as actively involved in the on-going international debate regarding family life as the still-growing plethora of university- and law school-based institutions promoting gay rights, children’s rights and an expanding host of other gender-based norms at the United Nations. (See, e.g., Conference, “The Global Arc of Justice: Sexual Orientation Law around the World,” convened by the UCLA Williams Institute, http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/home.html). The closure of the World Family Policy Center leaves an unfortunate void at a critical time. The UN norm-setting machinery – which slowed down somewhat during the past eight years – is now gearing up for dramatic new efforts to redefine marriage, family life, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood. See, e.g., “In a First, Gay Rights are Pressed at the UN,” New York Times, 19 December 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/19nations.html?ref=world). The world continues to become less – not more – safe for the natural family.

It is my profound hope that another American, Canadian or European law school or university will pick up the work now laid down by the J. Reuben Clark School of Law and Brigham Young University.

In the meantime, the web site of the World Family Policy Center (with its wealth of information regarding the “natural and fundamental group unit of society,” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 16 C(3)) will remain available on the world-wide web, although it will no longer be updated. The legacy of the World Family Policy Center, furthermore, will live on. That legacy is primarily one of hope: the Center demonstrated that it is possible to mount a reasoned (and compelling) academic defense of the natural family; a defense that – when brought to the attention of world policymakers – made a difference. The language of the Rome Statute for the Creation of an International Criminal Court, as well as numerous “soft law” documents negotiated by the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Social Development, and numerous other UN Commissions and Committees, reflect the work of the World Family Policy Center.

These successes were made possible by the support of the Center’s many patrons, friends and donors. I would like to extend my personal thanks to all of you who gave of your time, talents and financial resources to make the work of the World Family Policy Center possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I would also like to thank the Center’s devoted staff members, who have been models of selfless service and sacrifice. Kaye Balmforth, Emily Barlow (now Parks), Renae Green, Scott Loveless, Gary and Joy Lundberg, Marya Reed, Sarah Stewart (now Whittaker) and Elena Starovoitova (along with a host of student interns and volunteers) gave their all to ensure the success of the Center. I am deeply indebted to all of these talented and good people.

Finally, I would like to thank the numerous family members who supported the Center and its staff. Their good humor, patience, faith and prayers made what otherwise would have been a heavy load much lighter. I am particularly grateful for the support and love shown to me by my own unceasingly kind and generous family.

Richard G. Wilkins

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Special Note: Professor Wilkins is currently on leave from BYU, serving as the Managing Director of the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development. Patrons and friends of the World Family Policy Center may wish to visit the Institute’s web site at www.fsd.org.qa, where (among other things) they will find the ground-breaking Global Family Matters Information System, the Global Family Scholars Database, and the World Family News Service. Interested individuals are also encouraged to subscribe to the Institute’s bi-monthly newsletter.

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A. Scott Loveless

Personal Statement

Closing of the World Family Policy Center

31 December 2008

Dear readers, dear friends,

It’s always hard to say goodbye, particularly after working so long at something so important, like the preservation of the natural family in our culture and society. But the World Family Policy Center comes to an end now, at least as an ongoing, functioning entity. This does not mean that any of us is giving up the fight, only changing the venue.

We trust that the struggle over the family will continue, but also that common sense and truth will ultimately prevail. We also trust that you who have so well supported our efforts through the last eleven years will continue to give that common sense and fundamental intuition voice, whether before the local PTA or library board, in local or general elections, and beyond, with your friends and contacts internationally or at the United Nations. The family is the future, and there is no adequate second choice. Our website will continue to be maintained online as a resource for your pro-family efforts. It helped with Prop 8 in California, and we hope it will continue to be of value in your future work to help preserve marriage and family in the world.

I give my sincere personal thanks to the many friends made during my eight years at the Center, and to my colleagues here at the Center and abroad. I hope we can continue to associate and collaborate in whatever capacity we may find ourselves. My very best wishes for 2009 and beyond.

Dr. A. Scott Loveless